


Beginning of the End of the Line

by annabellereynolds



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Bi Ben Solo, Bi Poe Dameron, F/M, Fix-It, Gay Finn, M/M, Other, Poe Dameron is a man-ho, Redeemed Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22059412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabellereynolds/pseuds/annabellereynolds
Summary: A fix-it fanfic: Rey and Ben both survived the War, along with a bunch of the Rebellion. Everyone's trying to find a sense of normal and daily routine, but it's not easy. What now that they don't have a war to fight?
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was unhappy with the ending and said "I'll fix this myself" rather than whining about it. This is my version of how The Rise of Skywalker should have ended. Enjoy! - Annabelle Reynolds

Ben crawled out of the pit weakly. He didn't know how he was still alive, let alone how he got out of the pit without falling to his death multiple times. When Palpatine used the Force to throw him into the pit, he hit the middle of his back on a rock before bouncing off of it. That impact alone should have killed or at least paralyzed him.

Nevertheless, here he was, struggling to reach the only person who, at the end of the day, might understand him even the smallest bit.

Speaking of, Rey was motionless, laying on her side. There were two lightsabers laying near her, turned off and dusty. (She never told him, but Ben knew the smaller one was his mother’s and just as powerful as Luke's. He had a feeling about it.) Ben didn’t take the time to see what had happened around him, but he knew Rey had won against Palpatine—her grandfather—and that was enough for him.

The war was over, and that was enough.

As he struggled towards her, Ben urged himself on with thoughts about how they’d spend their future together…if she’d go with him…if she was still alive. Maybe a forest planet with plenty of soil to plant a garden and room for Rey to train or do whatever she wanted. Maybe she could scavenge again. He found himself wondering, what does Rey like to do on her free time? What did she do when she wasn't scavenging? Did she have free time during the war? Would she even go with him?

Ben’s legs gave out half-way and he army-crawl the rest of the way to Rey. He stopped short to turn Rey on her back to see if she was still breathing. Her eyes, normally bright, warm and determined until they met with his ever-so-dreaded mask, glared dim and cold back at him, laughing that he got what he deserved after all he had done to the universe. After all the terror and pain Kylo Ren had caused and inflicted upon others, Ben Solo deserved this. Emotions he had tried to block out before when he had killed Han Solo and when he felt his mother die rose to the top of his skin, and Ben sat up to hug the limp woman he still loved.

It was the first hug he had been part of in years.

Ben remembered what Rey had done for him earlier that day.

He let go of her and hovered a hand over her abdomen, attempting to focus on using the Force to heal Rey as she had done for him. Ben didn't know if it was possible for him to do it, he never had a reason to try before, but thought it was worth the try if he could bring Rey back. At first, it didn't work and a tear rolled down his face. When he began to think it was too late, her hand hovered over his to help. When he began to think it was too late, her hand hovered over his to help.

Rey took a breath.

Ben sighed in relief.

She sat up and backed up a little to see her savior’s face. Ben’s expression was unfamiliar to her: relieved, happy, tired, and there was something else she could not name.

Rey had seen it before, mind you, on the faces of Finn and Poe after they greeted each other once the Rebels had escaped the First Order after they had barricaded them in the abandoned Rebel Base. She had seen it on Princess Leia and Han Solo’s faces when they met up for the first time since Ben had gone to train with Luke Skywalker all those years ago. In the case of Finn and Poe, it had been a few hours before she saw them again; for Leia and Han, they planned a battle and he died trying to save his son.

So what was this look on Ben Solo’s face and what did it mean?

And then he kissed her. His lips were soft and salty—she assumed he had been crying—and dusted with dirt and blood. It was a good kiss, and it realized a lot of things she had been feeling.

He pulled back and Rey took initiative and leaned in to him, deciding that she really liked this side of Ben. His words from what seemed to be years ago echoed through her mind: “You’re nobody, but not to me.” She had thought it was just a ploy, a manipulation tactic to convince her join the Dark Side and, eventually, to take the throne at his side. Maybe, just maybe, it was a confession and not an attempt at manipulating her.

Ben settled into the kiss happily, thinking that maybe she really would go with him this time, and placed a hand on the nape of her neck to steady either of them. He was unsure of which he was setting steady. Rey’s lips were soft and, though she was not gone for long and was currently alive, cold to the touch. They were rough, as if she hadn’t had any water in a long time, and her hair smelled like the ocean that had drenched them both not too long ago.

His mind went wild a few seconds into the kiss. This was the love of his life, the girl he hunted as prey and tortured for information. He fell in love with her, and he must not have messed up their first kiss because she kissed him back. Ben found this hard to process, and almost forgot that he was kissing Rey. He was feeling an ocean of emotions, caught in the riptide of happiness and serenity.

Nothing could get in the way of Ben’s love for Rey.

Except maybe death.

Suddenly feeling weak, Ben pulled away and back to hit the ground. Rey, unfazed, acted immediately and began to use the Force to heal him once again. Once, and only once, he stopped breathing.

~

“WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?” Poe Dameron yelled. He had seen Ben Solo standing closely behind Rey and quickly broke the hug he shared with the two people he loved most in the world to push Finn behind him as if the pilot could protect him. Poor Finn let Poe do it, anger and confusion flooding his face as he realized that Ben Solo, his former boss and commander, was standing behind a member of his family in peace.

Not to mention that he was standing way too close to Rey for Finn and Poe’s liking.

The girl looked back to Ben, who looked quite nervous, and gave him a small encouraging smile before turning back to Poe with a straight no-nonsense facial expression. “He’s with me.”

“So?”

“He’s Leia’s son.”

That, accompanied with a pleading look from Rey, was enough to stop Poe from arguing. Finn, on the other hand, wasn’t convinced.

“He’s the SUPREME LEADER of the FIRST ORDER, Rey,” Finn started.

“And you were a Stormtrooper.”

“And he,” Finn turned to Poe, pointing at him without patience, “was a spice runner. Speaking of, we still have to talk about Zorii Bliss.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Finn!”

“Yes there is,” Rey and Finn chimed.

Poe shot them a look of betrayal and annoyance, then turned to Ben Solo with a death glare. “The only reason you’re alive and walking around this campsite is because she’s vouching for you. Sleep with one eye open, Supreme Leader.”

Ben stepped around Rey to look down into Poe’s face, as he was a lot bigger than the pilot and very intimidating when he wanted to be. “I don’t sleep,” he deadpanned. Ben wasn’t fat—in fact he was very fit—but he was very wide in the shoulders and very, very tall. He was intimidating, no matter if he was Ben Solo or Kylo Ren. Maybe he shouldn’t have used it to his advantage at this point in time, but it seemed to work as Poe swallowed visibly.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Rey pulled Ben back from the smaller Rebellion pilot, who was staring into Ben’s eyes with a lustful challenge of power, with her hands on his shoulder. She stepped in front of him to further block the boys from killing each other before Poe had given Ben the slightest hint at a chance of redemption. “Poe, what happened to Leia? Who’s in charge now?”

A sad look clouded his face. “I don’t know what happened to Leia, not fully. I assumed you would. I left on your mission as a commander and returned as the co-General of the Rebellion…without you.”

Rey ignored that last part, as she was there now and her past actions didn't matter because they had won the War. “Co-General?”

Finn raised a hand. “He wanted me to lead with him as co-General.”

Rey smiled softly. “You’ll be great Generals.” She hoped she hid her sadness about General Leia, not knowing how well it worked or if it worked at all.

Poe nodded and looked at Rey knowingly. “I know how close you and the General were.”

“I told him how close you were,” Finn interrupted.

“Shush. My turn.” Poe shot back without skipping a beat. “I know how close you were to the General.” He laid a hand on her shoulder softly in hopes to comfort Rey from any sadness. “I’m sorry.”

Rey closed her eyes and pulled Poe into a quick hug, which gave him the opportunity to glare at the ex-Supreme Leader of the First Order. Ben silently and tensely placed a comforting hand around her waist, shooting a smirk in return. A tear slipped out of her eye and Rey let go of Poe to wipe it away. Rey nodded to her friend, not really knowing what to say. “Don’t you two have things to do? Go lead the Rebellion or kiss or whatever.”

Poe threw his head back in laughter before firmly slapping Finn’s butt and walking away to the Millennium Falcon. Finn looked Rey in the eye and said lowly, “You, sir, are on thin ice.” He looked up to Ben Solo’s now red-flushed face and, deciding against saying anything else or starting a fight in front of him, began to walk after Poe.

“FN-2187,” Ben called after him. Finn tensed and turned to face the ex-Supreme Leader of the First Order. “Finn. I like your name.”

Finn looked confused and, once it had settled in his mind that his old boss complimented him, softened a bit. “Don’t wear it out, Solo.” He turned away from the two and walked towards the Falcon and Poe Dameron.

“What’s with the little one?” Ben asked once they were out of earshot.

“Poe?” Ben nodded. Rey turned to him and smiled. “He is the prime example of what your mother referred to as a man-ho.”

“He slept around?”

“We assume so. If not, he’s just got a dirty mouth.”

Ben nodded as if in approval. “It’s fitting. With both genders?” Rey shrugged and stifled a laugh.

~

Rey landed her spacecraft and grabbed the red leather next to her. General Leia had mentioned that she and Luke Skywalker had been separated young and that her planet, Alderaan, blown up by the Death Star, but he had grown up on Tatooine. It turns out that Tatooine was a desert planet, and that Rey felt very much at home there as she had growing up on the desert planet, Jakku. The only major difference was the presence of a second sun on the horizon.

“Could you wait here, Ben?” Rey asked her copilot, who nodded absently. He was exhausted, relieved to get away from all of the newness of the Rebellion’s base and the stress of the First Order. Avoiding Poe and Finn turned out to be a full-time job, especially when they were around Rey a lot more than considered normal, and all Ben wanted to do was be around her. As such, he had been made comfortable on a chair and was half asleep when Rey landed the spacecraft that carried them there.

“Rey, come in.”

Rey rolled her eyes and picked up the headset to answer Poe. “I’m fine, Poe.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“Poe, Ben’s asleep. I don’t think the First Order allowed him to get a lot of rest while he was in charge, so I want him to remain asleep for as long as possible.”

“He was the Supreme Leader. They needed someone to tell people what to do.” Poe sounded a lot less worried. “Did you ever catch him asleep with your bond-thing?”

“Force-Bond and no. He normally contacted me.”

“Be careful. Oh, Finn said hi."

“Hi, Finn. Good-bye, Poe.” Rey took off the headset and muted the speaker to let Ben sleep without Poe disturbing the serenity. “BB-8, come with me. We’ll let him rest.” The droid beeped in response and followed her out of the ship.

As per the coordinates Poe had given her, this is where Luke used to live. The house was built into the ground with sand bricks, accounting for shade, heat of the suns, and the environment around. Rey used a piece or metal to slide into the area the house was in and looked around.

Inside it felt nice, but it didn’t look like someone lived there. Maybe at some point, but not anymore. There were a few rooms and what looked to be a kitchen and living area—Rey wondered which one had been Luke’s quarters. Would they even have been called quarters?

She wandered back into the kitchen and set the cloth on the counter. Rey pulled two lightsabers from her belt—one Luke’s, the other Leia’s—and placed them on the cloth. The dust and grime had been scrubbed from the hilts, and they looked new other than a few dents from the recent battle that had ended the war. Rey carefully wrapped them in the red cloth and tied it together with a piece of tan leather, deciding to bury them outside the house instead of leaving them on the counter for anyone to steal and use for parts.

Outside a few meters from the house, she knelt in the sand and placed the wrapped lightsabers down in front of her. She remembered meeting Master Luke and General Leia, his sassiness and her motherly tendencies. They were so...opposite, yet the same. With each memory, she grew slightly sadder and relaxed, silently shouting everything she had ever wanted to tell them to the Force in hopes that the Skywalker Twins, somewhere out there, would hear her. Using the Force, she hesitatingly buried the lightsabers in the sand several feet out of sight of a random digger or scavenger to look in the area.

Getting to her feet, she was asked a question. “Excuse me?” Rey turned to the voice. It was an elderly woman. “What is your name?”

Rey looked to the ship, and then to the distance behind her. Luke and Leia were standing shoulder to shoulder, smiles on their faces. Force Ghosts. Rey felt a disturbance in the Force, an intuition to say something she didn’t think she’d say. The Force Ghosts nodded encouragingly.

She looked back to the woman, who was waiting patiently for her response. “Rey Skywalker.” The woman nodded and departed, walking past Luke’s old home and into the desert sunset. Rey turned toward the ship. “Come on, BB-8. Let’s go home.”

They found Ben deep in slumber, curled up in a ball-like shape on a chair. Rey laughed a little and covered him in her coat as if it were a blanket. 'He’s slept so much lately,' Rey thought. 'I hope he’s okay. How much sleep did he get in the First Order?' She would have to ask later.

“Strap in,” she told the droid. “We’re about to take off. Then—light speed. All good?” BB-8 responded positively. “Right then. Let’s go back to the base.”

Rey flipped switches and pushed buttons, then put on the headset in order to communicate with Poe if something bad were to happen. They took off and made the jump to light speed with Ben sleeping peacefully behind Rey, and BB-8 yelping as he rolled to the back of the ship, for, as a BB Unit without hands or feet, he couldn’t actually prevent himself from rolling around during take off and the jump. Neither woke Ben, and Rey was glad for that. He needed the rest, and she was happy to give him time to do so.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn’t take a long time for Rey to start wishing she hadn’t buried the lightsabers on Tatooine. A day or so after they had returned to the Rebel Base, Rey blockaded herself in her quarters to conduct research on the creation of a lightsaber and left Ben Solo in BB-8’s charge.

“Could you make sure he doesn’t start fights with Poe and Finn, BB-8,” she requested of the droid. General Leia had made sure to drill into Rey’s head to never underestimate a droid, and she didn’t intend to. “It’s very likely that he’ll listen to you if I told you to make sure he behaves. Yes, you can document what I've said for proof.”

She doubted it would do anything since the boy had become more outgoing these few weeks on the Rebel Base, going as far as wearing their type of clothing because he genuinely wanted to and trying all sorts of new foods, and unfortunately that included petty arguments and ironic flirting with Poe Dameron.

A few hours or so into the research, BB-8 came running into Rey’s quarters squealing about something “the humanoid Force-wielder” was doing to Poe. Rey ran after the droid with her staff in hand, ready to break up a fight if needed.

She heard the two idiots before she saw them. They were wrestling, seemingly to the death, in the middle of the common area in the base, knocking stuff over and breaking equipment. The Rebels that were attempting to pass by either walked on the other sides of the room or right through the fight without a care, and others just created a circle around the fighters to watch the show and cheer on whomever they thought would win. (Most voted or Ben.) A few spectators on the outside noticed when Rey enter the room and parted the way so she’d have a clear path to the boys. (Or to make the show more interesting, if they were highly invested in the evolving rivalry between the Jedi and the pilot.)

“BB-8, stay back,” she said to the droid, who looked at the fighting boys nervously. “Poe wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” BB-8 disagreed. “Yes, I know you can handle yourself in a fight, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Stay here until it’s safe.” Begrudgingly, BB-8 agreed.

The decently-sized crowd grew silent as they realized Rey had arrived on scene. After a moment of watching them roll around, she put her staff on her back and used the Force to remove Poe from his position of biting the back of Ben’s neck. The feisty pilot kicked and screamed in an attempt to get Rey to drop him and let him attack Ben, to his dismay. Ben laid on his back on the ground, not wanting to move due to the pain from fighting a small, angry pilot.

“LET ME AT HIM! HE’S DEAD, REY. LET ME GO!” Poe thrashed around, waving his arms and kicking his legs as if he was trying to swim through the air to try to beat Ben up again. Rey grew tired of his thrashing and gave Poe a look that silenced him quickly, as he felt its wrath more than saw it.

“I told you two to behave.”

Poe and Ben, faces flushed pink, accusingly pointed at each other. “He started it. No, he did!”

“You two have had the most responsibility in the universe and you decide to blame the other for a seemingly petty disagreement? Where’s Finn?”

“Right here.” Finn raised a hand from a dark corner, grabbing his glass and standing to join the conversation at Rey’s side. “How’s the research going?”

“Fine. It was better until BB-8 asked for my help.”

Finn nodded, appreciative of the droid they had all come to befriend. “Wise move, BB-8.” The droid beeped in response.

“What’s that?”

Finn held up his glass. “Apple juice. We make in in-house now, and it’s really good. Here,” he held it out to her “Try some.”

Rey took a sip, thought about it, and nodded. “That’s really good.”

“I know, right?” Finn grinned happily. “It was Poe’s idea.”

“What’s this,” she gestured to the co-General of the Rebellion and the ex-Supreme Leader, “all about anyway?”

Poe and Ben began explaining what happened.

“We were playing Pool and I was WINNING—“

“No, Solo you were LOSING.”

“POE was CHEATING—“

“I was WINNING, Solo. WINNING.”

“ENOUGH.” The boys shut their mouths immediately. Ben sat up from the ground and Rey turned to Finn. “How much have they drank?”

“A few bottles each.”

“Of?” Finn whispered the brand in her ear, and Rey’s expression grew more disappointed by the second. “Can you boys never just behave? I walk away for a few hours to do important research and you’re drinking illegal alcohol and playing a game of Pool that was doomed to end in a brawl? What’s the matter with you two?”

There was a chorus of beeping as BB-8 announced his arrival at Rey’s side. He lectured Poe and Ben on fighting properly, drinking safely, and sent a huge I-told-you-so in Ben’s direction. Rey nodded along, agreeing with every word the droid said.

Ben and Poe looked at each other sheepishly. “There was nothing to do,” Poe explained, still held in the air with the Force. “The booze was there and I wanted to know how much Benny Boy can hold down.” The droid burst into a chorus of angry beeps.

“More than you can, Damn-eron.” Ignoring BB-8, Ben and Poe burst into drunken giggles, and Rey dropped Poe. He crawled--swam through the air?--over to Ben and hugged him. At this point, Rey let go of the Force-hold on the pilot and dropped him.

“I love you, man.”

“I love you more, Poe.”

“I love your broad shoulders and your jawline and—“  
“THAT’S ENOUGH.” Rey was thoroughly pissed. Finn grabbed the back of Poe’s shirt and yanked him back from the hug into a standing position.

“Poe, we need to talk.”

“But Finn—“

“NO. We are going to go talk in my quarters. NOW.” Finn let go of the hold he had on the collar of Poe’s shirt and pushed him in front of him as they walked out of the common area—Poe really did try to walk and ended up with an arm around Finn, who supported him—to Finn’s quarters.

Rey tore her attention from Finn and Poe to BB-8. “Go with Finn. Help him if he needs it," she instructed.

The droid sounded concerned in response.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve got this, but thanks for the offer and for your help.” BB-8 responded positively and ran off after two of his friends.

Rey looked to the ex-Supreme Leader of the First Order, who was sitting on the ground like a child. He smiled childishly and held out his arms to Rey, making grabby hands as if he wanted her to pick him up. Rey smiled and used the Force to levitate him over the ground.

“Only to your quarters so you can sleep off the alcohol and I can get back to my research.” Ben seemed to be happy with that and smiled the entire way there, floating through the air with pure glee.

Rey opened the squeaky door to Ben’s quarters and looked around the room. It was very clean and tidy—a probable result of the First Order and General Leia raising the Jedi as a child. There was a desk carved of some of the wood there in the forest around the base with a simple lamp on top, and some clothes laid out on a chest. The curtains were closed, letting a little light in through the bottom of the cloth that bounced on the ground and lowly lit the room. Stray parchment and a pencil laid peacefully on the desk. Rey gathered that Ben had been drawing as of late, perhaps to release anger and frustration since he no longer had his lightsaber to use to destroy walls.

Rey placed Ben down on his cot gently, and he sat up. “Rey-Rey.”

“Yes?”

“I’m hot.” Rey twisted her head to look at Ben in shock, and he giggled again. “Your pretty face looks funny.” It must have been the joke of the hour, for Ben burst into uncontrollable laughter at that. Not taking it to heart, Rey rolled her eyes and smiled a little—he had called her face pretty, and it was a compliment if not also an insult when added to the rest of the sentence. Ben began to take off his shirt with difficulty, resulting in Rey’s help.

Rey noticed it again for the thousandth time since the War ended: he was very wide. Not fat, but he had broad shoulders and was well-built for the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa. Ben’s deathly pale skin had gained some color over the time he had been here, and the angry red scar on his face from their first duel had healed to a light pink. His chest and shoulders were littered with forming fist-sized bruises, likely from Poe, and dusted with freckles.

Rey patted his cheek affectionately, noticing how small her hand was compared to his face with slight intimidation. “Rest up, Ben.”

“Why?”

“Because I need your help when you’re sober again.” Rey stood to fold his shirt neatly and placed it on the chest near some more clean clothing. She turned and pointed at Ben’s boots. “Boots off before you lay down. You’d freak out about the dirt they’d leave on your blankets if you were sober and wore your boots to bed.”

“But I didn’t when I was the Supreme Leader.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I wore my outside-boots for going outside and my inside-boots for going inside.” Rey stared at him in confusion. “Hux thought it was dumb too.”

She dismissed him. “Boots off, Solo.”

He took off his boots with hesitation, grumbling in low tones about how Rey was being mean for making him take off his boots. Not wanting to get his socks dirtier than they already were, he crossed his legs under him once done and looked up at Rey for approval.

She smiled and nodded. “Good, thanks.” He beamed. Rey lifted him from the cot and held him above it to turn down the sheets, then placed Ben down in the bed gently. “Lay down, try to sleep.” She kissed his forehead. “I’ll bring some water by later for when you wake up, but you have to sleep. I need you sober and ready to help me out.”

Ben yawned. “Help with what?”

“We’re going to build two more lightsabers.”

“Oo—how?”

“That’s what I was researching before you and Poe began fighting.”

Ben looked guilty. “Sorry, Rey-Rey.”  
Her’s softened. “It’s okay, Ben. Please stop fighting with him.”

“I don’t want another lightsaber. What if it makes me go bad again? What if you go bad with your’s?”

Rey stared at him again, this time in shock. “We’ll talk about this later. Good night, Ben.”

“G’night, Rey-Rey.”

As Ben began snoring, Rey looked over the desk. She was right earlier: Ben had been drawing, and he was good. It was mostly pictures of her, but she didn’t mind as he could have been drawing much worse things. She saw a drawing of Finn and Poe, who had asleep on each other in the Millennium Falcon one day; a picture of his old lightsaber with the broken Kyber crystal, and it looked just as startling on the parchment as it had the first time she had seen it in person. The last drawing on the table was of his parents and uncle, all sitting around the Falcon playing a game of Dejarik. (Holochess.) They were young and Han had an arm around Leia as he played Luke, who was losing gravely. 

Rey put the drawings back as she had found them, and made a mental note to find more parchment for Ben to draw on. She left the room, turning off the light and closing the squeaky door behind her. Ben liked the door squeaky and closed so he would be able to tell when someone was entering and exiting the room, probably due to the past at his Uncle Luke’s Jedi academy. It made Rey frown every time she heard the door squeak, but she never mentioned it to Ben. It was his business whether or not to confide in her about it.

She returned to her research, only stopping after an hour or so to take Ben the water she had said she would bring. He was still asleep, and Rey didn’t wake him. Soon after, she found what she was looking for and went to find Poe or Finn for their input.

~

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Come on, Poe!” Rey was trying to convince the Co-Generals to let her take a team to go find what they need to build lightsabers, and she wasn’t getting very far.

“Not a chance, Rey.”

“But—“

“Would Solo be going with you?”

She looked at him as if he was insane. “Of course, but—“

“Then you can’t go!”

“Babe,” Finn put a hand on Poe’s shoulder. “Maybe we should let her go find the Kyber Crystals. She might find out something useful to us.”

“And why should I let her go with Solo in tow?”

“They need to get out and Solo needs an adventure to get him back in the game,” Finn stated.

“They just got back from Tatooine!”

Finn huffed, frustrated, and looked to Rey. “You can go. Take the Falcon, Chewie, Solo, and R2. You all need to get out.”

Poe was not pleased. “FINN!”

“Poe, she’s going.”

“But—“

“NO BUTS. We will have this conversation later.” Finn looked at Rey again, tired and fed up with Poe and his nonsense. “You will leave tomorrow morning at dawn with food, water, extra fuel and all. Since you don’t have a time limit to when you have to be home, you don’t really have to leave now. Did you bury the other lightsabers?”

Rey, remembering she had, realized that it was a dumb decision. “Yes, I did. I’ll need at least one of them for the trip.”

Finn took a moment to think. “Then your first stop will be Tatooine. Go figure out your route, Rey, and let us know your path before dinner tonight.”

Rey smiled and hugged the Co-Generals before running off happily. “Thanks!”

Poe looked at Finn accusingly. “We are Co-Generals, babe. We were supposed to agree on something!”

“The way that conversation was going? We NEVER would have agreed.” Poe hated to admit it, but Finn was right. “I sent her with a good team, and they all need to get out. R2 is still mourning Leia as I saw last, and Chewie wasn’t in good shape without Solo Sr. or Leia. They need to get out for a while, Poe.”

Poe nodded, giving in, stepped closer to Finn and took his chin in one of his hands gently. “I love it when you take control like that.” He kissed him gently, and Finn kissed him back.

~

Ben woke up in a cold sweat. He looked around the room in a panic, the dream flashing through his head. The lights were out and the curtains closed, just how he had left the room that he last remembered. He sat up and swung his legs off the bed to rest his feet on the ground, holding his throbbing head in pain as his ears rang softly. He closed his eyes and felt around him.

Bed.

Nightstand with a glass of water. (He took a moment to drink it.)

Chest. There were neatly folded clothes placed on the lid.

Chair.

Desk. It had been tampered with.

He opened his eyes and stood, waiting for his brain to catch up with his actions and muscles before making any sudden movements towards the desk. As he had thought, someone had looked around his desk. There was a familiar air around each photo the person—one specific person—had touched, and he wasn’t upset about it. He assumed Rey had been here and Ben hadn’t told her that he drew pictures from time to time, so it was to be expected that she would look at the pictures.

Ben straightened the drawings on his desk before sitting in the chair, and reached under the desk to push a button. One of the locked drawers opened and he pulled out a piece of paper. It was a picture of Rey, laying on the ground as he had found her at the very end of the War. Her expression…he hadn’t seen it in person since that day, but Ben had seen it many times after as he slept. What could he say? It haunted him, and it was an image he wished so much that he could forget.

There were other drawings like that one in the locked drawer. Plasma and General Hux—or General Hugs as Poe lovingly referred to him—were guest stars in some of them, as a lot of these were centered around what he saw in the First Order.

Ben went through the pictures until he reached the bottom of the pile, and pulled out three drawings. One was of his parents, happily eating breakfast in a greenhouse on some tropical planet that he didn't know the name of. The second was of Finn and Poe, asleep on both sides of his shoulders as a result of Poe messing with him one day.

The third was a drawing he thought he would never look at again…until now.

It wasn’t a happy drawing and was much more like some of the others in the drawer. What used to be a Jedi Temple had been reduced to rubble, and the flames leaped higher and higher as he kept looking. There was a cloaked figure looking at it all, red lightsaber in hand,—Ben had spent way too much time figuring out how to make it red when they didn’t have red pens, and settled for a red crayon a child had brought in. Crayons were very rare.—and a body in front of the silhouette. Ben didn’t have to wait for another dream to know who’s face was under the cloak.

Rey’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I hope you're enjoying!  
> As I began writing, ideas started to flow and now I have an idea for where the story could go. I don't know if everyone will be happy, but it's a good idea and I'm excited. Unfortunately, it will take longer than I planned, which is why the second chapter took so much less time than the third is currently taking. I'm working on it, pinkie-promise.  
> Anywho, have a good one!
> 
> \- Annabelle Reynolds


	3. Chapter 3

Rey began making a list of things they would need to gather or have to make two lightsabers. She read that they were generally made of metal or a strong wood, a power cell, and a bunch of other necessary parts that they could find around the Base.

The only thing she was remotely worried about in this project was acquiring two Kyber Crystals, which were scattered across the galaxy. In the ancient Jedi texts she had been studying, she found that the Jedi trainees had been sent to the Crystal Caves on Ilum to mine the crystals for their lightsabers, and Rey would have gone there if the Galactic Empire hadn’t drained the planet of its Kyber Crystals and the First Order hadn’t destroyed the planet. Another instance of this type of mining happened on Jedha, where they used the crystals to power the Death Star. The only other option Rey saw was to reach into the Force and find one somewhere in the galaxy.

She brought this up to Ben, who looked at her in confusion. “You’re overthinking this. There’s got to be a deposit of Kyber Crystals somewhere. We have to stop on Tatooine, right? We could look there and then look in the Adega System. It was a popular spot for Jedi before they found Ilum, and legend has it they found their crystals there.”

The Adgea System sounded familiar; perhaps it was in the Jedi texts. Rey hadn’t thought about looking there or on Tatooine, and nodded. “Alright. We leave at dawn.” She gathered her charts and lists of what they would need for the trip. “Let’s go talk to the Generals.”

“Why?”

“Finn wants to clear the plan before we go.”

Rey turned to walk away, but Ben placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. “Rey, can we talk?”

She turned to him with curiosity. “Of course.”

“I meant what I said earlier, Rey. I don’t want to risk being in possession of another lightsaber. What if I do turn to the Dark Side? What if I hurt you? What if I hurt Dameron or—”

Rey stood in front of him and placed her hand on his cheek, silencing him. “I’ll be here to bring you back to the Light, Ben, just as I was before. I want you to have one so you can defend yourself if you have to, not to fight Poe or anything.”

Ben looked nervous. “Just a safety precaution?” Rey nodded, smiling. “But what if—“

Rey rolled her eyes and placed a quick peck to his lips. “Shut up, stop worrying. I’ll help you make sure you don’t go to Dark Side. Ben, it called to me too. I know you’re scared, but the best way to face your fears is to face them head-on.”

He was convinced, and wanted to make her happy. Ben sighed. “Alright, let’s go find two Kyber Crystals.”

They found Finn and Poe at the bar in the common area. Poe, sporting one hell of a migraine and a bruised cheekbone, had a very humbling glass of ice water and was drinking it daintily. Finn, predictably, had another glass of house-made apple juice and was smirking at his co-General. 

“You look like shit,” Rey observed.

“Feel like shit,” Poe replied.

Finn cut in, reminding Rey why they came over in the first place. “Did you figure out a plan?”

“Yes.” Rey opened the star-chart and struggled to figure out a way to hold it up and show the Co-Generals the plan.

Ben held out a hand. “Give me the paper.”

She did, and he held it up to where they could see it. Rey smiled. “Thanks Ben.”

He nodded and smiled. “Get on with it.”

Rey looked to the star-chart confidently. “We’ll go to Tatooine first to make a quick stop at Luke’s to borrow their lightsabers and look for a deposit of the crystals. If we don’t find them, we’ll look in the Adega System. If we find two there, we’ll hopefully be home before dinner tomorrow. With no complications, we could go with only those two stops and refuel on Ilum for the last jump back.”

“What do you need to build the lightsabers?”

Rey rolled up the chart, shooting a look of gratitude at Ben Solo for his help. She then pulled out her list. “Kyber Crystals, something to hold them, a power source for each, modulation circuits, energy gates, handgrip ridges, emitter matrixes. Everything else would be modulations. I’m going to modify mine to absorb the Force Lightning I get from my father’s side so I can use it to my advantage when I get the hang of using it.”

Finn seemed happy with the explanation, but Poe was not convinced. He concentrated. Finn studied his face. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m not convinced,” Poe stated simply. Finn shrugged, nodding his head expectantly. “Rey, I have some questions.”

“Get on with it.”

Over the next hour leading into what turned into a double-date, Rey and Poe were locked in a heated debate about things that were never going to happen.

“Get your head out of your ass, Rey,” Poe shouted. “If something happens to you we won’t have any defense at all against whatever butt-fuck rises to power next!”

“As if it was MY fault the First Order came to power. I STOPPED IT.”

“Not without your boy-toy over there. Say, how are you two doing? Getting a lot of sleep I hope.”

Finn and Ben, who were having a lovely discussion up until this point, chose this moment to rise from their barstools and move across the room to a booth to dine in peace. Having forgotten what they were originally talking about, Ben asked Finn what he thought about the plan Rey had made.

Finn shrugged, leaning against the booth with his arms crossed behind his head. “I don’t know, I thought it would take a shorter time to form it, Ben. If she and Poe would stop arguing, I’d let her know that you’re all leaving at fourteen hundred, tomorrow instead of dawn.”

“And how’s Poe taking the power-split?” He chose his words carefully, not knowing how the ex-Stormtrooper would react.

Finn had come to learn that Ben Solo had two vocal tones before he met Rey: Kylo Ren and Angry Kylo Ren, the latter in which he didn’t speak but had often demonstrated in violent ways. After Ben met Rey, he began to use two more vocal tones: Ben Solo and what Rey called Soft Ben. No one had ever heard Soft Ben, and most had drummed it down to be a story much like the ancient Jedi had been.

Finn determined that Ben was in a good mood and responded as such with a laugh. “He loves me, but not the power fight. He doesn’t know how to share and he doesn’t like the decisions I’ve made without considering his input.”

“Such as?”

“The trip you all are going on.” Ben nodded, encouraging Finn to keep talking. “He doesn’t like that Chewie’s going, that you’re taking the Falcon, that you’re—“ Finn cut himself off.

Ben sat straighter, much to Finn’s confusion as the Jedi had already been sitting perfectly straight. “What about me?”

“He…” Finn looked cautious and Ben to promised that he wouldn’t hurt Poe for saying what he did. “He said he doesn’t like that you and Rey are so close and doesn’t like that you’re going on a trip without supervision.”

Ben sneered and picked at sandwich on his dinner plate. Rey had introduced him to a sandwich she’d only found here at the Rebel Base, and he liked it a lot. “That’s ridiculous. What does he think I’ll do to her? I’d die for her.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling him,” Finn exclaimed, frustration with his Co-General showing clearly. He ate a piece of fruit from his plate. “I don’t think he cares. He thinks of Rey as his kid or something.”

Ben sighed. “Clearly.”

“What would that make me to her?” Finn asked dreamily. “Ben, what if Poe and I adopted a kid? What would—would we raise them here?”

Ben didn’t like this conversation turn and opted to stop it. “Slow down, we just got out of a war and you two haven’t been together for very long. Give it time, Finn.”

Unfortunately, Finn was worlds away. “A daughter named…Beverly. I wish there was a way that we could have a kid that had all of Poe’s best features, Ben. His eyes, his hair…Is it possible?”

Ben shrugged helplessly, taking a bite of his sandwich. “I don’t know. I didn’t pay attention to that stuff in the First Order; I had my own shit to worry about. Hey, can I get your advice?”

“Of course, Sir.” Ben flinched at the nickname. “What about?”

Ben explained his nightmares, avoiding the one with Rey and a dead body in it. “I’ve been drawing the scenes that stuck with me,” he continued, “and not a lot of them are very peaceful.”

“What is the general location of all of these?”

‘This base.’ “A jungle, a Jedi Temple was in one of them. There was an island a few times, but I don’t know the name of the island or the location.”

Finn took a moment to think. “Dreams are funny, Ben. A lot of the time they could simply be nightmares. I had them for a while after I left the First Order; Man called them post-traumatic stress nightmares and gave me a root to eat over the next four sunsets.” He scratched his chin, making a quick decision. “Before you leave tomorrow, find Maz and ask her about the dreams. She might be able to tell you more than I ever could.”

“Should I tell Rey?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I will.”

Finn smiled and continued talking about nothing in particular, sensing the end of the conversation. Ben didn’t mind as the two hadn’t gotten a chance to just sit down and talk in a while. It was nice to catch up. 

Rey stood up from the bar and walked over to the ex-Stormtrooper and the ex-Supreme Leader of the First Order, having Ben slide over to let her sit down next to him. As she settled in, Ben laid his arm across her shoulders and let his hand hang where everyone could see it. Poe took a minute to himself before joining them, sliding next to Finn and stealing a piece of his fruit and lightly squeezing his boyfriend’s thigh under the table. The two hotheads looked relatively docile as though they’d reached an agreement or an end to the argument. 

“We’ve been talking,” Finn said, “and based on the current time and how prepared you are for the trip, I think you should wait to leave until fourteen hundred tomorrow. It will give you more time to sleep and gather everything together. Babe?”

He was thoughtful, processing what Finn suggested and making ends meet. “I agree. Rey, you planned everything so thoroughly that there is no time for you guys to get everything together today to wake up and go tomorrow morning. Sleep tonight, pack tomorrow and then leave.”

“That’s fair,” Ben said. “Rey?”

Rey was staring into Poe’s eyes, challenging him to start something. Poe wasn’t backing down, staring back with the same intensity that she had started off with. “Yeah, okay. We’ll be ready and fourteen hundred tomorrow.”

Finn was happy with this. He put his head on Poe’s shoulder and closed his eyes, taking a piece of fruit off of his plate and chewing it slowly, resulting in Poe dropping his guarded expression and relaxing into the booth. Rey, in turn, relaxed into Ben’s side and began snoring softly. Ben and Poe looked up from their loved ones at each other and smiled, appreciating how peaceful the moment was when they put their petty arguments aside.

~

The next morning, Rey woke up around nine in her own room. She hadn’t remembered walking there and assumed Ben took her there, then smiled softly at the thought.

The room stilled and Ben appeared in front of her, sitting at his desk shirtless. “Ben,” she said softly. He was drawing, deep in thought and lost to the world. She said his name louder and he looked up, smiled and moved to grab a shirt—her preference—when he saw the love of his life.

The Force-Bond was a strange thing for the both of them. At any point in time by simply reaching out to one another over the Force, Ben and Rey could touch, talk to, and transport matter from light years away as well as see the other’s surroundings. Ben treasured it, and used it to reach out to her more often than not to just talk when he didn’t want to go find her, or to locate her when she was hidden away. It was the one thing that the Palpatine had done that Rey was thankful for, as she would often hide just for Ben to find her.

Ben greeted her with a kiss to the crown of her head. “Good morning,” he said, moving his chair to face her and sitting down. “Are you ready?”

“I think so,” Rey thought, yawning and stretching. “Did you carry me to bed last night?” He blushed, letting Rey know the truth. “Thank you.”

He cleared his throat and looked at the ground, blushing heavily at this point. “It’s no problem.” He snuck a peek at Rey, dropping his smile and folding his hands on his knees. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“What?”

Ben chose his words carefully, realizing that just after they had both woken up might not be the best idea for this conversation. Nevertheless, he gathered his courage and took a deep breath in. “I’ve be—“

“What did you say, BB-8?” Rey was looking past him, towards what should have been the doorway of her room. Her image blurred and disappeared, and Ben was left sitting in his room alone without an explanation to her sudden departure.

Ben sighed and stood. This part wasn’t uncommon, he knew Rey could be distracted by the droid easily when it came by for a chat, but it still stung a little when the connection fizzled away. He stacked his drawings, then placed the finishing touches on the piece he was working on when Rey contacted him through the Force-Bond. It was an eye, her eye, looking out over and reflecting a burning city.


	4. Chapter 4

The time came to leave on their grand adventure, and Ben met the others at the Millennium Falcon soon enough. R2-D2 was mouthing off to something Poe was saying, and an apprehensive Rey was attempting to quiet the droid so they they could get a move on.

Ben didn’t see why Rey wanted to take the Falcon. The ship was beat up and patched crudely, having been through a lot of battles, and Han Solo was a tough master to serve. He admitted that she was sturdy and fast without the shadow of a doubt, but Ben didn’t see why she needed fast if they—for once—didn’t have a time constraint or someone to run from. He came to the conclusion that the Falcon was familiar territory to the scavenger, and that was that.

Chewie and Poe were going over the do’s and don’t’s of the Falcon, boring Ben and Rey as they had been on the ship before and knew not to do anything stupid. “Poe,” Ben interrupted. The pilot took a breath and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Yes, Solo?” He seemed slightly ticked off, which made Ben smirk. He would have teased the pilot if it was the right time.

“Rey’s flown before and we’re not savages. We’ll be fine.”

Chewie expressed that he still had doubts about Ben and Rey being on the same ship. Rey gave the Wookie a look. “You’ll be there too, Chewie. We’ll behave.” Chewie asked if Ben would behave in the “we.” Ben agreed to it.

With a hand on the shoulder from Finn, Poe relented. “Fine, fine. Go on, get out of here you crazy kids. Don’t fuck up my ship.” Chewie protested. “Yeah yeah, OUR ship. Don’t be a wimp, Wookie.”

The group began to board the Falcon, and Poe slapped Ben on the rear as he walked past. Ben shot him a glare, silently warning the flirty pilot to back off. Poe made a mental note to ignore it and sauntered off, Finn chattering at his side about one thing or another.

“Would you like to go on a leisurely walk?” Poe asked as Finn came to a pause in his monologue. The ex-Stormtrooper nodded and they walked off towards the cliffs.

“How’s Rose?” Poe asked, breaking the verbal silence between the two.

Rose and Finn had grown quite close over the War. If anyone asked they would both admit that their friendship was a little awkward after the kiss she had placed upon the lips of the ex-Stormtrooper when she thought she was about to die, but it only brought them closer in friendship as they both realized that it didn’t feel right. (For Finn, there was something negative in the Force and himself that had shifted. Rose, only wanting Finn to be happy, went with it and pushed her own feelings aside for the Rebellion and her best friend.) Rose was very supportive when Finn told her of his feelings for Poe, and encouraged that Finn talk to the pilot and see if he felt the same.—Luckily, he did and Rose became their official wing-woman on any relationship advice, much to her delight.—They were best friends, drinking buddies, each other’s shoulder to cry on. She meant the world to Finn, and he meant more that he would ever know to her…not that it was anything new at this point.

Finn smiled, recounting how she was gushing about an ex-Stormtrooper in the ranks that they had captured and released unharmed. “She’s happy. There’s an ex-Stormtrooper that she’s interested in. Gushing constantly about him.”

“You know him?”

“Maybe. We all wore the same armor, so I don’t really know what he looks like, but Rose says he was SQ-3571. I think he’s called Sam Quart now.”

“Quart?”

Finn shrugged. “Rose said he had a fascination with ancient-Earthian units of measurement and liked that one the best.”

Poe looks surprised. “I didn’t know we had information on Earth. It was destroyed a few centuries ago.”

A nod. “The Empire had a little information here and there. The Earthians sent a capsule into space a few hours before Earth was destroyed and it had a pamphlet in it. ‘The Mostly-Accurate History of Earth as According to a History Professor at University.’ It’s a good read if you like that sort of thing. Apparently the United States of America was very self-centered and only fought in wars they claimed they were dragged into.”

Poe nodded in agreement, not saying anything. He looked lost and thoughtful, and Finn didn’t mention it, getting the feeling that Poe needed a few minutes of radio silence to process the day.

To get to the cliffs they had to go through the woods, and while the woods weren’t horrible, they were thick with evergreen trees and floral shrubs. Poe—to be the gentleman—went first to hold the branches out of Finn’s face as they walked and talked, filling the silence that the bugs and leaves hadn’t. They came to a private clearing on the edge of a cliff looking over the valley. The sun was high in the sky somewhere behind them, slowly setting in preparation for the coming night, giving the area a nice spot of cooling shade. Finn saw this and stopped, deciding that this would be far enough for now and that they could just sit and talk there.

“Do you think they’ll get the Crystals, Poe?” Noticing Finn had stopped, Poe turned back to him. Finn’s face was somber, worried and trusting. “I think they could. Maybe, but it could take a while. I don’t remember hearing a lot about Kyber Crystals in the First Order—just that they were nearly extinct.”

Poe, seeing a rare and non-poisonous flower, stooped down to pick it to give to the worried man in front of him. The stem and sepals were an ultra-rare shade of blue, which was quite uncommon in the first place but was extremely uncommon in a forest such as this. The flower was purple at the bud, and flew through an ombre to end in a soft lavender at the tip of the heart-shaped petals. Poe counted five petals and seven stamen, noticing that the numbers were odd and suddenly hoped that Finn didn’t dislike odd numbers—he wanted Finn to like the flower. Did Finn like flowers?

“I think…I think Rey’s got a good head and can lead them through the hitches Besides, what’s gonna happen? You have faith in them; you sent them out there; I trust you.” Poe held out the flower to Finn, who had turned to look at him. “They’ll be fine.”

Finn took the flower and leaned into the arm Poe wrapped around his shoulders as they sat on the edge of the cliff. “I sure hope so,” he responded absent-mindedly, mind currently wrapped in the mystery that was the flower that Poe had given him.

~

The group made it to Tatooine quickly after the launch, the trip not seeming to be that long in any case. With uneasy peace throughout the galaxy, Rey’s mind was clear and ready to jump into the adventure blaster-first. Ben was not so easy-settled on this.

“Rey, can we—” He stepped through the cockpit door as Rey ran out, the scavenger bouncing off of him and onto the floor with a thump. He helped her up. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” she said, face twisting in worry. “What’s wrong?”

Ben wasn’t sure how to begin. He didn’t want to find the Kyber Crystals because he was scared that she would go Dark Side, that he would go Dark Side and kill innocent kids again. Not just kids, but innocent people. Ben himself had slaughtered countless people to gain power. Power manipulates people for the worst, and he knew it. What if that power got to Rey, as she was one of the last Jedi and the only of the Palpatine’s grandchildren?

He was scared of the dreams that he had gotten since the First Order had fallen—specifically the one with the firelight and the red glow of a lightsaber silhouetting Rey’s figure as she stands above the corpse of what he could only know to be an innocent child. How do you even bring that up in conversation? He wished his mother were around to coach him on this.

How would she react? Ben imagined that Rey would be angry. He’s supposed to be on her side, not against it. Would she be hurt that he doesn’t want to risk losing her to the Dark Side at the expense of helping protect the universe from future threats? He figured that’s how she’d see it: that he was holding her back. He wouldn’t even get to the dreams because she would be angry with him and wouldn’t want to talk to him, and then she’d do something irrational and fly off the rails.

He settled with: “I…I don’t think this is a good idea.” and an anxious expression. “What if you get hurt? What if—“ Rey placed a hand over his mouth, silencing him for a second. Ben, after taking a breath, removed the hand impatiently to continue. “No, Rey. This is important. You can’t go look for the Kyber Crystals.”

Rey crossed her arms across her chest defensively. Ben immediately knew he had worded that incorrectly. “And why not?”

‘This is your chance, Benny boy. Tell her about the dreams.’ Ben took another deep breath, this time gathering up all of the courage the Force could let him borrow and channeling it into his next sentence. “I’ve been having dreams—“

“You know that dreams don’t mean anything.”

“No, these dreams are different. Nightmares. I’ve had these since I was a kid, and so far they’ve been true and if these are true, you’ll go to the Dark Side if you build a lightsa—“

Rey was beyond mad. “I’m not going to turn to the Dark Side, Ben. You’re supposed to be with me. Where is your head? Stay here, if you don’t want one you don’t have to have one. Move out of my way, Solo. I have a Kyber Crystal to find and you will not stop me.”

“But Rey—“

“Don’t do that. Don’t start. You’re not my keeper, you’re supposed to be my partner.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t be partners.”

Rey almost stopped breathing. She sharply turned around and shoved her belongings that she had with her into her bag, then used the Force to move Ben out of the way, as it was obvious that he was not moving from the doorway. At the door to the room she looked up at Ben. “Maybe we never were. Don’t try to contact me.”

Rey stormed out of the Falcon to a waiting Wookie and droid, who was confused at the angered face on one of his friends. He asked what was wrong. Rey said nothing, but told him to go back to the Rebel Base and to tell Finn and Poe that she would be back eventually.

Why?

She needed to figure things out on her own.

Was it Ben?

No, don’t be silly. There are just things that she needs to figure out alone.

Chewie and R2-D2, thoroughly unconvinced and suspicious of her sudden change in manner, set aside their own comments and thoughts and did as she asked, hugging the scavenger before leaving her stranded on the deserts of Tatooine in front of Luke Skywalker’s old home.

~

Ben sat on the couch and hung his head in his hands and eyes closed. ‘I thoroughly fucked that up,’ he thought. He heard footsteps and beeps pass by him, and Chewie yell something to R2-D2 before they took off and headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that it's so late. School's back in session and with school comes Musical season! Thespians get busy around this time of year. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Rey slightly regretted her decision. Only a little bit. She'd told Chewie that she’d be fine and for the Wookie to fly himself and the others back to the Rebel Base, and he wasn’t at all pleased. The furry creature’s words rang in her head as if they were the last she would hear from him, echoing long past their departure from Tatooine, and she hoped they wouldn’t be the last: “Don’t be a dumbass, Rey. May the Force be with you.” It had sounded like he didn’t know whether or not they would be his last words to her either, and it stung just ever so slightly.

Or perhaps it had something to do with General Leia’s death. That one phrase, “May the Force be with you,” had meant a lot to the woman, as she had been a fierce believer in the Force and an even fiercer friend to as many as the stars. Not a soul in the galaxy could say they had a reason to hate Leia when she was alive, and perhaps it was for the best.

Rey hadn’t been there for the death of Leia Organa, and her body’s disappearance from the base at the end of the War had startled and saddened the girl among many, many others who put their faith in the general. Rey hadn’t, to her own imagination, been able to say goodbye properly and felt as if she owed something to the woman. Leia was the closest thing she had to a mother, after all; she owed her for that, at the very least. Rey gathered that that feeling, the feeling of being in debt to General Leia Organa, is why she had taken Ben under her wing and began helping him readjust to life outside of the War.

Well, we all know how that turned out.

Ben had told Rey one day in conversation about his mother that he imagined her on her planet, Alderaan, sitting on the throne and ruling with a fair and just hand as Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan had been brought up to do, instead of lead the Rebellion against her father and, in time, own son. He believed that the Force kept the planet and everything on it frozen in time until the rightful monarch of Alderaan sat on the throne, and from there they would live on as the home of many, many peoples and creatures, “and the mountains shimmer with a, untouched fall of snow under the sun that, still, shone brightly across the oceans and the rainforests. That’s where my mom and dad are now, Rey. I know it, because I sent my dad there, so don’t worry about them. They’re fine.”

“Why there?”

“Mom was meant to rule Alderaan—I didn’t hate them, I just didn’t want them to be in my way. Why wouldn’t she be there?” He grew sad. “I’m just sorry that I won’t see Han again; he wasn’t Force-sensitive.”

“What will happen to Alderaan in the Force?”

Ben shrugged. “Maybe it will continue as it was meant to with her on the throne. I don’t know much other than order was restored to Alderaan.”

The suns on Tatooine were floating in the sky as they had been before, and she took a breath to steady herself. Rey would need her heart and her head to be on the same wavelength for a while. United under a goal, as she and Ben should have been.

No, focus Rey. She could practically hear Luke Skywalker tell her to stop thinking about Ben and to focus on the task at hand: finding the Kyber Crystals. Or, one of them, if Ben really didn’t want one as he so painfully made clear.

Rey didn’t understand why he didn’t want a lightsaber again. He was quite handy with one, and they would have kept each other under check because of the Force Bond…right? It would not have been easy, but they were a team. They were unstoppable; they had defeated the Palpatine, death itself, even! Ben would come around…he had to.

She took a breath and let those thoughts out, then sent a question into the Force: Which way to the Skywalker home? There was a tug, something she felt shift in the wind more than felt in the Force, and she was led along a breeze on a short walk to the Skywalker home. Laying eyes upon the little house built into the terrain, she felt the Force shift again as the breeze that had gently guided her to the now-abandoned home dropped away, and she put out her hand in the general direction of where the Lightsabers were buried. Rey could feel them in the Force, calling to her. A pull, and they were in her hand. Astonished, Rey realized that anyone could have taken the lightsabers if only they had the Force and known how to use It, and it terrified her. Rey secured Luke’s lightsaber in her belt, and Leia’s in her satchel.

She sent another question into the Force, focusing herself to be able to receive an answer from anywhere: Where are the Kyber Crystals? Lead me. There was a tug and a pull, and she knew where to go and which direction to go in.

The walk must have lasted hours. The winds picked up and blew sand around, and when she left the sands for the rocks of Tatooine’s canyons, the Pull leading her down into the rocky, shaded area. The night fell not long after, and as the creatures that lived on the desolate planet began roaming the night or preparing for slumber, she heard their cries and felt her skin crawl.

“Are you okay?”

The Force Bond was still in-tact, she had realized. Ben must have felt her discomfort and reached out, despite his cruel words earlier that day. He was worried about her; maybe he didn’t mean it. His voice sounded hesitant and scared, like he didn’t want to talk to her so soon after their fight but knew she needed reassurance. Now came the question: would she respond?

“I’m fine,” Rey answered out loud, noticing her voice had a defensive air that would have normally made anyone back away. Not Ben. “Night fell on Tatooine, and the animals started making noise.”

“That’s understandable,” Ben replied. “Let me know if you need anything, Rey. Maybe I could send you something like we did with the lightsabers back when we fought your grandfather.”

Rey found herself smiling at the thought, then remembered she was supposed to be angry. “We’d gotten better at that—maybe it would work from across the galaxies.”

“I would imagine so.” His voice went silent, and that ended that.

Rey kept walking, the Pull growing slowly stronger as she got closer and closer to the prize she sought. After a few minutes, she reached out to Ben again.

“I’m sorry.”

At first, there was no response. Then, a voice. His voice: “Me too.”

Rey smiled, and as the connection between the two young people went unused the Pull stopped pulling her along.

She had found the Kyber Crystals.


End file.
